Bumblebee Wants To Come Home
by LittleMewLugia
Summary: When an accident damages Bumblebee's Transformation circuit, Bumblerbee is forced to stay in car form for 24 hours. This wouldn't usually be a problem, until car thieves steal him, and he must somehow escape from them, and make his way back to Sam.
1. Chapter 1: The Accident

Bumblebee Wants to Come Home.

SUMMARY: When Bumblebee's Transformation circuit goes on the fritz, Ratchet must remove it to make repairs, leaving Bumblebee trapped in car form. Bumblebee doesn't'mind, as it's only for a few hours-until he finds his central locking and self-steering have also been compromised as he is taken by a car thief! When Bumblebee escapes their clutches by fixing his steering mechanism, he doesn't know where he is, and must make his own way back to his human, Sam.

PAIRINGS: None

SETTING: Movieverse

DISCLAIMER: Transformers and all named characters belong to Hasbro and Dreamworks, and I lay no claim to them. I'm just having a brief play with them.

Bumblebee Wants to Come Home.

Chapter One: The Accident.

There was no warning, it just happened.

One moment Bumblebee was coasting happily, with Sam relaxed in the driver's seat, humming to the music Bumblebee's radio was playing, the next, a car coming the other way suddenly seemed to veer across the road, the driver wrestling with the wheel as it slid on a direct collision-course for them.

Bumblebee's first instinct was to transform to dodge out of the way, but that wasn't an option, for to do so would crush his human charge. Dumping Sam out would not only take too long, but put him in danger of being hit by something else travelling on the same highway. Bumblebee had no other option than to make a sharp swerve to the right.

Unfortunately, the highway was built on a bank of earth fifteen feet high, overlooking another highway, and although Bumblebee tried to avoid going down the slope, he failed. He tightened his seatbelt around Sam and cradled the human protectively in his seat as he rolled over twice. He heard Sam cry out, felt himself caught a glancing blow by two separate vehicles as he slid onto the second highway-thankfully right-way up. Ignoring the dents in his bodywork, he managed to join the traffic stream on the second highway. Once he was out of danger of being hit again, Bumblebee turned his attention to Sam.

"Sam, are you okay?" asked Bumblebee. Sam was white-faced and a bit shaky, but seemed otherwise okay.

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay, just a bit shocked, that's all. You?" said Sam.

"A bit dented and scraped, but that'll self repair. Are you sure you don't need to be mended at hospital?" Bumblebee asked.

Sam poked himself in several places.

"No, nothing's broken, just a bit shaken and a few bruises. The human version of auto-repair will sort that out in about a week." Sam said. "This drive out to stretch your wheels has turned out to be a disaster! Let's head home, I've had enough!" Bumblebee didn't argue, just turned off to take Sam home.

They got back to Sam's home, and Sam climbed out. "Okay, Bumblebee, we're hidden from the neighbours, you can transform now." he said. Now that Sam's parents were in the know, they didn't mind if Bumblebee chose to be in robot form on the drive, as long as he did his best to be light on his feet, and stayed off the flowers, lawn, patio, and avoided touching the power lines. However, Sam could tell that something wasn't right. Although Bumblebee's doors and headlights twitched, nothing else happened.

"Hey, Bee, what's up? Have I done something to make you mad at me?" he asked plaintively.

"No, it's not that, Sam, I think that the crash damaged something vital. I can't transform."

Sam pulled out his mobile phone. "Hang on, I'll call Ratchet to come and have a look." He patted Bumblebee on the hood. "He'll have you back to normal in a jiffy."

Ratchet had made some adjustments to Sam's mobile, and Mikaela's new mobile, enabling them to hit a key to send a tone to either Optimus Prime (Hot Key One) or Ratchet (Hot Key Two) if they needed to contact them. The Autobot in question would then send a message via the (to them) primitive mobile phone network, enabling them to communicate with the humans. Sam pressed and held Hot Key Two, and then waited.

A minute later, his phone rang, and it was Ratchet on the other end. Sam quickly explained about the accident, and Bumblebee's subsequent inability to transform.

"I'll come over and take a look." said Ratchet.

Fifteen minutes later, the S+R vehicle turned onto the drive, and Ratchet carried out a detailed scan of Bumblebee.

"The auto-repair to your bodywork is proceeding well." said Ratchet to Bumblebee. "However, one of those impacts damaged your main transformation circuit too severely for auto-repair to fix it in a realistic time scale. I can repair it, but I will need to remove it, and scavenge some spare parts from the Army. I know Captain Lennox will be able to help me with that."

"Will the Army have all the parts you need?" asked Bumblebee. "The humans' mechanical prowess is inferior to our own."

"Oh, I suggested that they scavenge a few things from the remains of the Decepticons, before they were dumped out at sea. We'll use a few of those." said Ratchet.

"Decepticon circuitry in me? Do I have to?" Bumblebee sounded horrified. "Haven't some of the others got a few fail-safes they could reroute, or some spares hidden away, so you could scavenge from those?"

"I'm certain Ironhide has many of those, Bumblebee, but I've seen his reaction to me asking to use some. If you want to chance it, _you_ can do the asking. You _know_ how much he'd grouse, and he might just refuse point-blank anyway. Although, thinking about it, I suppose I could start disassembling the remains of Jazz." Ratchet sounded thoroughly unenthusiastic about that last idea, Sam noticed.

"No, don't!" said Bumblebee. "That would be even worse! I'd feel like I was letting him down somehow. He was my friend, I'd feel like I was betraying him, letting him be taken apart for that."

"We're agreed, then." said Ratchet, sounding relieved. "The Army's spares it is, then."

"Yuk." said Bumblebee, but without rancour.

"Look, it's only the odd circuit and chip, and I'll make sure there is nothing dangerous or overly Decepticon about them, so stop complaining! Anyone would think I was about to give you Megatron's processor clusters, the way you're carrying on!" said Ratchet in exasperation.

"Those weren't saved, were they?" asked Sam worriedly.

"No, they were dumped in the Laurentian Trench with the rest of him. The Army only scavenged a few replacement parts they hadn't yet worked out how to make that we might need, although by studying them, they will probably soon be able to." Ratchet assured Sam.

Ratchet waited until it was dark before transforming into robot form.

"I'm afraid, Bumblebee, that removing the circuit will de-align a lot of systems. I could re-align them before I go, but the repairs will take a maximum of twenty-four hours, and it'll take four hours for re-alignment, which seems a bit pointless as I'll just have to re-align them again when I put it back. You'll lose most communications-you'll have to talk through your radio to communicate again-and your self-steering-Sam would have to drive-and a bunch of other minor systems. I should have it fixed before this time tomorrow, so you won't have too long to wait, so don't worry." Ratchet gently patted Bumblebee on the roof. "So just be brave for me for that long, and it won't seem so long, especially if Sam can keep you occupied."

"Okay." said Bumblebee.

Turning Bumblebee onto his left side, Ratchet deftly removed the transformation circuit, then put Bumblebee back on all four wheels.

"Okay, Bumblebee, I'll go to the army base now, and call Captain Lennox on the way, so he can get the parts ready. If he's really efficient, he'll have them waiting, and I can put this back early tomorrow morning for you." he said. Transforming into his vehicle form, he turned on his lights and siren, and set off at a fair clip of speed.

"Are you okay, Bumblebee?" asked Sam.

"_I will survive_." Bumblebee played through the radio. It was like when Sam had first met him, which raised mixed emotions in Sam. In some ways it was almost nostalgic to hear Bumblebee speaking as he had the first time he's met him, but on the other hand, he was sad, for Bumblebee had been forced to communicate that way due to injury to his vocal processor, and it might be bringing back unpleasant memories for Bumblebee, who had one day sat down and related to Sam the entire story of the battle at Tygar Pax, where Megatron had ripped off one of Bumblebee's arms, and his vocal processor, because Bumblebee had stalled Megatron long enough for the AllSpark to be blasted off into space.

"Yeah, we'll cope, chum, it's only twenty-four hours, and maybe even less than that." Sam tried to soothe.

Sam stayed out with Bumblebee for most of that night, only going in to eat his dinner, and then after washing up, coming back out. However, at ten-thirty, he looked at his watch, and then at his car-shaped friend, feeling rather guilty.

"I'm sorry, Bumblebee, I have chores to do and then I need to get some sleep, and I KNOW my parents won't let me spend the night in you. I have to go in, but I'll be out again in the morning, hey? Maybe Ratchet will have your circuit repaired by then. But-what do we do if we have to wait till nightfall again?" Sam looked concerned. What effect would all this have on his Cybertronian friend?

"_Why worry now?" _Bumblebee played. Sam smiled, stroking Bumblebee's hood with great affection.

"That's right, be brave and keep your chin-er, bumper-up." he said. With a last light touch, Sam went indoors.

Bumblebee watched Sam go into the house, and had never felt so lonely and insecure in all his life. He had been able to transform ever since he was a sparkling, and had been taken out to gain an alternate form and to learn how to move in both forms. He felt so vulnerable stuck in one form, and a little worry kept surfacing in a corner of his processors: _'What if Ratchet can't fix it? What if I'm never able to transform again? Would I be thrown out of the Autobots? Would Sam get fed up with me not being able to transform, and sell me, or give me away?'_

He heard Sam's window open, and Sam, unaware of his friends mushrooming (and unfounded) fears, called out "Goodnight, Bumblebee!" Bumblebee decided, due to the lateness of the hour, to not answer back using his radio, but flashed his headlights at Sam briefly.

Bumblebee watched all the windows in the Witwicky house go dark, as, one by one, the lights were turned out. Once they were all dark, Bumblebee decided to shut down as much as he could, for it would aid his bodywork's self-repair, and would help the night pass quicker.

After all, it was only one night. What could possibly go wrong?


	2. Chapter 2: The Thief

Bumblebee Wants To Come Home.

Chapter Two: The Theft.

When the shadowy figures started approaching Bumblebee later that night, he was so shut down he was oblivious to their presence. Even when they picked his lock, he only shifted to a slightly higher level of consciousness, not even half-aware of what was happening to him. It was only when part of the underside of his dashboard was pulled away, and he felt human hands pulling out a bunch of wiring that he began to power up completely, still trying to work out what was happening. As the hands roughly sorted through the wires and then selected two of them, cut them, and twisted them together, Bumblebee became fully aware of the circumstances.

He was being hot-wired.

All his doubts of the previous evening vanished. Bumblebee knew that even if Sam had lost his keys, he would _never_ do something as demeaning as hot-wiring him, at least not without asking him first. Besides, he could hear the whispering of both men, and neither of them were Sam.

As his engine started, he decided he had to do something, but what? He couldn't call the other Autobots, he couldn't transform, he couldn't even cut his power. What could he do?

The radio! Bumblebee realised he could still use his radio.

Rapidly searching through his song list, he found an appropriate song, and put together the most pertinent bits that he needed. This all took less than a second His systems may have been misaligned, but there was nothing wrong with his processors.

He belted out the song at the highest volume he could attain.

****

"Help! I need somebody, help, not just anybody, Help-won't you please, please help me!" rang out the sound of the Beatles. 

Lights went on all down the street, including Sam's. One of the men swore, yanking Bumblebee's radio off so violently that he nearly broke it. Sam opened his window, calling "Bumblebee?" just as the men drove Bumblebee away.

"Bumblebee, Nonononono!" Sam cried, grabbing up his mobile and stuffing it in his pyjama pocket. He climbed onto the sill, swung himself onto his stomach, hung by his arms and dropped into the bushes. Scratched ad bleeding, he headed for where he had put his mom's bike after recovering it after the Barricade incident. "Bumblebee, I'm coming!" cried Sam.

Bumblebee tried everything he could think of-brakes, steering-but with everything misaligned, it didn't work. He did find he had limited control of his handbrake, but every time he put it down, not only did it hurt as the men were driving him quite fast, but one of the men kept taking it off, then pushed the handle down so he couldn't use it any more.

In his mirrors, Bumblebee could see that Sam was on his mom's bike, pedalling like mad, one hand holding his mobile to his face, speaking into it. Bumblebee could not hear what Sam was saying, but he sounded concerned. Then the thieves stomped on the accelerator, taking several sharp turns. Bumblebee saw Sam valiantly trying to keep up, but after every turn, he was further behind, and after a while they lost him completely, and, congratulating themselves, they headed for the freeway.

Sam dropped from his window, got on his Mom's bike, and pedalled as fast as he could. Reaching into his pyjama pocket, he pulled out his phone, and pressed Hot Key One. A few seconds later, it rang, "Optimus" flashing up on the screen. Sam answered.

"What's up Sam?" Optimus's strong, confident voice asked. Optimus had learned about humans sleeping at night and early morning, so knew that for Sam to call at this time, something important must have happened.

"It's Bumblebee!" Sam gasped. "He's being stolen! I am currently in pursuit, but if they speed up…" He let the sentence tail off.

"Sam, we are on our way. I will call you again in a few minutes. Answer so we can home in on you." The connection was broken.

Suddenly, ahead of him, Sam saw what he had feared happen. Bumblebee leaped forwards as if bitten. Sam couldn't pedal any faster, just tried to keep him in sight as he took a sharp turn, so sharp that Sam saw Bumblebee's nearside wheels almost leave the road. Sam managed to keep him in sight for another minute, but he was getting further and further ahead of him. Then Sam hit a pothole, and did a forward flip over the bike's handles. Frantic, he got back on and pedalled until he came to a junction. He looked both ways, but there was no sign of his yellow Camaro.

No sign of his closest and dearest friend.

"Bumblebee!" Sam cried out.

His phone rang. Optimus again. Sam answered.

"Sam? We're heading towards you." said Optimus.

"He's gone." said Sam, tears choking his voice. "I lost him, Optimus. Bumblebee is gone."

Bumblebee was not sure how long the journey took, but it felt like a long time. He was driven to an out-of-the-way lockup garage. They stopped him, and another man walked up, running his hand appreciatively along Bumblebee's bodywork.

It took all Bumblebee's self-control not to flinch. With Sam, such an action on his sensitive skin was enough to make Bumblebee shiver with pleasure, but not this man. Bumblebee felt soiled by the contact.

"Nice car, should sell easily. New paint job, new plates, new door locks and keys, fake paperwork. We can sell it on easily in this condition. If the police ever track it down, we'll be well clear.

"Tomorrow, after we've got some kip." said one of the other men. "We've been driving for hours, and it's late."

"Agreed." said the new man. The original two drove Bumblebee into the lock-up with a couple of other cars, and closed the door.

Bumblebee knew that he didn't have time for a complete realignment. With Ratchet's help, such an alignment would take four hours, and without Ratchet's help, it could be double that. That was time he didn't have. If he concentrated on certain systems? First things first, his self-steering: the sooner he got away from these people, the better. It took more than two hours, but he managed to get control of his own body back. He was glad, and felt fortunate that he still had time to work on his central locking.

He got that done quicker than he had expected, and, well pleased, began work on his communications. This was a major task he did not expect to finish before the men returned, and he was right.

Sunlight flooded the lockup, and Bumblebee looked up from his task. He tensed, getting ready to reverse as fast as he could out of the lockup. He couldn't go yet because they were right behind him: they were in his way. He didn't feel very protective towards them at the moment, in fact he was feeling pretty annoyed, but he was still an Autobot, and as such he would not harm humans, not even these ones.

It was when they moved to his sides to drive him out that he made his move, reversing suddenly. The two men flung themselves to the sides, staring at him open-mouthed, as Bumblebee turned and zoomed off down the road, not paying any attention to where he was going, nor caring, as long as he got away from the men. He took roads and turnings at random, running like this for about an hour. He had to hope he didn't run into the police, for his hologram was still offline. The real Police, that was, although if he ran into Barricade, he would still be in serious trouble, at a disadvantage because he was still unable to transform

It was a while before he felt safe enough to pull into a disused warehouse in the middle of nowhere. He began aligning first his hologram, and then his navigation systems. He had no idea where he was, but the moment he had those two systems realigned, he set out, memorising road signs and working out from them which way to head, pulling out onto a road that headed the right way.

Bumblebee felt alone, lonely, and scared, he remembered a song,, played the same lines over and over through his radio.

"Take me home, country road." he sang. 


	3. Chapter 3: Reunion

Bumblebee Wants to Go Home.

Reunion

"We can't give up, Optimus! We can't leave Bumblebee with those people!" Sam pleaded with the Autobot leader.

Optimus and Ratchet had come to meet Sam, and help search for Bumblebee. Sam was sat in Optimus's cab. Optimus had his headlights on as bright as possible, as did Ratchet, but outside the light's range, the night was as dark as ever.

"Sam, Bumblebee is unable to send out any signals in his current form and condition, and until his communications array is realigned-which is a major job in itself-he won't be able to. In this lack of light, we could pass within ten feet of him and miss him. You would also function better if you finish your recharge." the Autobot leader said.

"What? You expect me to _sleep_ when Bumblebee's been kidnapped by those hoodlums?" Sam asked. "I can't, Optimus, it's not like you recharging, I can't just switch myself off, the worry itself will keep me awake!"

"We shall return you to your residence, then, for to continue searching while it is such poor light serves little purpose. Perhaps you can give yourself some of that stimulant you talk so highly of. What is it called again?"

"I believe he calls it 'coffee.'" said Ratchet. "It will help him operate at a higher efficiency for a short time, but becomes ineffectual after a time, not to mention stressful on his system with long-term use. I hope we can find Bumblebee soon, it's bad enough having to deal with _mechs_ who don't know when to recharge let alone humans." He turned a baleful optic on Sam. "I have found a sedative that will work on your organic systems, and a suitable dosage. If you do not recharge yourself within twenty hours, I _will_ use it on you."

Um-okay." Sam said nervously, hoping that they would find Bumblebee before then. Ratchet was, if nothing, an honest mech, he meant what he said, and Sam _hated_ needles.

"Can we pick up Mikaela when it gets light?"

"Yes, she can go with Ratchet." Optimus said. "As there are two main directions he could have been taken in, we will have to split up to hunt for him."

Optimus and Ratchet turned back towards Tranquility. As Sam's parents were in the know not just about Bumblebee, but had also met Optimus, Ironhide and Ratchet, it would be alright for the two Autobots to just turn up, and they could avoid awkward questions from the neighbours by leaving at first light to hunt for Bumblebee.

Sam got out of Optimus's cab and let himself in the house.

Ron and Judy Witwicky were both sat up in the kitchen with coffee, awaiting their return: not only had Bumblebee's radio 'shout' woken them, but they were the next people Sam had called after Optimus and Ratchet had met with him.

"Did you find him?" Judy asked.

"No." Said Sam. "Any of that coffee left?"

"Yeah, sure, in the pot. Help yourself." Sam did so.

"Look, we've contacted the Police and Captain Lennox of the Army, and the other Autobots. He'll be found, son, don't worry." Ron said.

"But he's vulnerable and out there with crooks." Sam said. "He can't transform and he's out there without me and without Optimus and the others. He must be so scared!" Sam said. His mum put his arm around his shoulders.

"Sam, if he can reactivate his own steering-and that medic 'bot sad he should be able to do that himself with enough time-then he'll be coming straight back here. We can wait in for him, let him know where you are if you cross over and miss each other. You'll find him-or he'll find you." she said. Sam smiled, and embraced her.

"Thanks, Mom." he said.

As the sun began to rise, he called Mikaela. Optimus called Ironhide to go and get her and bring her over: they knew she'd want to come. She answered sleepily, crotchety, but sprang to full wakefulness when Sam told her the news.

"Why didn't you call me earlier?" she cried. "Bumblebee's my friend too!"

"Because I thought that the sooner we searched for him, the quicker we might find him. Then we realised it was too dark to search, so I told Optimus I'd call you when we decided to go. Can you be waiting outside so we can pick you up? Ironhide's en-route to get you now. They'll have to separate, and Ratchet says you can go with him, if that's alright."

"I'll be waiting outside my house." she said. Faintly, they heard a horn blast. "God, he's here already. See you soon!" She cut the connection.

"We'll set off together for the place you lost sight of him. We'll rendezvous there." said Optimus.

When they got there, Mikaela and Ironhide were waiting for them., Sam gaped.

"How did you get here so fast? Didn't you have to dress?" Mikaela shrugged.

"Ironhide was driving, so I hunkered down in his seats and dressed on the way. Oh shut your mouth, Sam, before you inhale something. It saved time, didn't it?"

"Yeah." he admitted. Mikaela got out of Ironhide (who planned to wait at the Witwicky house with Sam's parents) and clambered into Ratchet's cab. Then they arranged to stay in communication with each other, and search.

Then, without further ado, they separated and began to search.

As Bumblebee travelled, he worked on his communications array. It was a lot to work on, and was taking forever. It didn't help that he was also nervous of being found, constantly looking in his mirror for signs of pursuit. This slowed him up hugely.

He decided to concentrate on the receiving portion of his communications array first: it was the easiest to do while on the move, and if he was being called by anyone, at least he could home in on the signal direction, for despite the road signs he was still not in any area he recognised. He was obviously far from home.

He managed to repair his receiving equipment, but could find no signals. He wondered if the other Autobots thought it worth finding him, at first, but then dismissed that thought. He remembered how Sam had come for him when S-7 had him, how the others had welcomed his return. No, he reasoned, they were not calling to him because they didn't know he'd got his receiving equipment fixed so he could hear them.

Seeing a space he slowed and stopped. Time to realign his communications equipment. If they weren't calling him….he'd just have to take the time to make sure he could call them.

They had been searching for three hours, with no success. The flask of coffee Sam's mother had made him had just been emptied, and Sam was losing all hope of finding Bumblebee. Optimus had been trying to keep his hopes up, but Sam was just starting to feel depressed and exhausted, but too highly strung to sleep. Sam was sick with worry for Bumblebee.

Then: "I'm receiving a signal!" Optimus cried. He translated it. "This is Bumblebee calling Optimus, Ironhide, Ratchet, Sam. Please send me a signal."

"Then send him one!" Sam cried. "And tell Ratchet and Mikaela and Ironhide!"

"Already done, at the same time I translated for you." said Optimus. Sam smiled: he'd forgotten how fast Cybertronian reflexes were.

Bumblebee received Optimus's signal, and a millisecond later, Ratchet's. Putting on a burst of speed, he rushed as fast as he could towards the closest signal-Optimus's. His Spark was singing and he felt light at the content of Sam's signal.

"We are on our way. I am closest. Sam is with us. Ratchet coming."

Sam was overjoyed. He would soon be seeing Bumblebee again.

"I am receiving another transmission. Translating." Optimus said.

"Sam, I'm on my way, I love you."

After another couple of hours, they finally met. Sam jumped out of Optimus' cab, and rushed to throw himself onto the hood of the yellow Camaro, patting and stroking it with tears running down his face. Bumblebee headed for Sam so fast that Optimus feared he would not stop in time, but he need not have feared: Bumblebee's brakes were good.

After five minutes of them greeting each other, Optimus called them both to attention.

"Bumblebee, I think we should head for Ratchet: he has your Transformation circuit repaired as good as new.

"Oh, of course! Sam, will you ride with me?"

Sam smiled, sliding into the driving seat and running one hand slowly, deliciously along Bumblebee's dash.

"That, Bumblebee, is a foolish question." he said.


	4. Chapter 4: Repair

Bumblebee Wants To Come Home 

Repair

As Bumblebee fell in behind Optimus, he felt at ease and totally content. His friends-both human and Autobot-had come in search of him, and now Sam was back where he belonged, in his driver's seat. Bumblebee grieved that without his transformation circuit he could not mold the seat around the contours of Sam's body as he usually did, but he could still communicate his happiness to Sam by his engine purr, and this he did.

Sam for his part was equally happy, and let Bumblebee do the driving, running his hands along Bumblebee's dash, and the leather of his seats, something that didn't exactly help Bumblebee keep his attention on the road.

They soon got close to Tranquility, which is where Ratchet, who had turned round and taken the quickest route towards them, met them. He turned and fell in behind Bumblebee, reassuring him that he had his transformation circuit repaired and ready to be installed. However, Bumblebee would have to make a decision.

"Well, Bumblebee, there are two choices, in light of the events of yesterday." said Ratchet. "As it's afternoon, we'll get back to Tranquility by the evening. Installing the transformation circuit won't take long, but then there's the four-hour realignment, which will continue into the night. Unfortunately, it's not exactly a quiet process, and there will be humans recharging-including your Sam there. I can do it that way, or I can leave it until the morning, something that you will be understandably nervous about. None of us likes to be unable to transform, it makes us too vulnerable."

Bumblebee didn't respond for a while. He was still unable to speak properly to Sam, he had neglected that side of his communications repair, but he played back the translation of Ratchet's message for him.

"Well, I'll tell you what, Bumblebee, how about if I sleep on your back seat tonight, and Ratchet stays as well-you could ask him. Between us, I think we can defend you from both thieves and Decepticons alike."

Bumblebee told Ratchet what Sam had said, and Ratchet pulled forwards, so both Sam and Bumblebee could hear his response.

"Bumblebee has said that he would feel safer, Sam, if we do as you suggested. I will stay over, and you can sleep in Bumblebee. Will your parents allow that?"

"I think so, but that doesn't matter." said Sam "I'm doing it, with _or_ without their permission, even if I have to find somewhere other than the drive for us to go. If I have to do that, they'll ground me for a month, but I don't care." He caressed Bumblebee's dash again. "Bumblebee's worth it."

Sam needn't have worried: his parents understood perfectly, and allowed him to do it as long as he took his duvet and a pillow in with him. Mikaela would have stayed too, but there wasn't enough room, so Ironhide took her back, and she promised to come back around the next day while Bumblebee's realignment was taking place. Sam would have liked to have spent the whole night talking to Bumblebee, but the sleepless night and stress of earlier had taken their toll. Sam fell asleep after half-an-hour.

Bumblebee watched over Sam as he slept, feeling rather inadequate. If something did happen, he would have to stand by and watch as Sam and Ratchet fought for him. Yes, he could manoeuvre in car form, but would risk running into Sam on the confines of his parent's drive. He was supposed to be Sam's guardian, not the other way around. Thankfully, the night passed without incident.

Sam awoke, rubbing his eyes and then remembered why he was in Bumblebee's back seat. Ratchet spoke.

"Good, you've had a nice long recharge. If you get out, I can put Bumblebee's transformation circuit in, and then I can carry out the realignment in my vehicle form."

Sam got out, and once again Ratchet turned Bumblebee on his side to fit his transformation circuit, and then began the long process of realigning every single one of Bumblebee's systems. Mikaela turned up soon after they had begun, and she and Sam stayed by him, hands on his hood or side, staying with him through the entire four-hour process. When Ratchet announced that the realignment was complete, Bumblebee flicked open his doors and said to Mikaela and Sam "Come on, let's go for a drive to the lookout point."

The lookout point was the hill Optimus had sent his message from, and Sam realised Bumblebee wanted to go back to robot form without risk of being spotted. He and Mikaela exchanged a glance, and climbed in, and Bumblebee, after thanking Ratchet, took off with a fine burst of speed, heading for the deserted hilltop.

When he got there, he didn't wait for Sam and Mikaela to get out, he (gently) dumped them out of his doors, backed off, and transformed, sighing.

"That feels good." he said. Then he bent, picking up Sam in one hand and Mikaela in the other. He brought them both up to his chest level, carefully hugging them. Then he held them back, looking at them.

"Thank you for coming to look for me, you're good friends." he said. "Do you mind if we stay till it gets dark? I want to enjoy being in this form with you." Sam nodded: it was winter, so it wouldn't take too long.

They sat and talked, and Bumblebee told them some of the stories of what he'd done before coming to Earth, and Sam and Mikaela shared some anecdotes of things they'd done before meeting each other and Bumblebee. Sam talked about how Bumblebee had forced Bobby Bolivia to let Sam have him for $4000, and how his life had changed since that moment, and Mikaela joined in, laughing softly at times.

As it got dark, Sam said "We really should get home now."

"Please, can we wait just a little longer?" asked Bumblebee.

"Okay." said Sam, puzzled. He knew Bumblebee wouldn't ask if it wasn't important to him, but he wondered just why Bumblebee wanted to be here.

Suddenly two bright lights appeared in the sky, and as they got closer, Sam could see that they looked like large shooting stars, or comets.

Or like the other Autobots when they had first come to Earth.

"Is that what I think it is?" asked Mikaela. Sam swallowed.

"Yeah, I think so. But who'se side are they on?"

"Do not worry, Sam, they are some more of our friends. They are called Mirage and Prowl." said Bumblebee. He transformed back into Camaro form, opening his doors.

"Come on, let's go and welcome them." he said.

Sam and Michaela smiled, and got inside.


End file.
